The Depths of a Shadow
by BerserkRWBY
Summary: A dragonborn barbarian, A half orc rouge, and a tiefling druid. This band of "heroes" will face threats they never thought imaginable. In the end they will be all that stands between, Khan, The Shadow Drake and his plans to burn the world in black flame, thus bringing on the never ending night. Rated M for violence and strong language.


**Welcome, this is our most recent Dungeons and Dragons 5e campaign adapted into story form. The events in this tale, (Other than character backstory), happened during game time and have been reworked as little as possible to from an enjoyable story. With that out of the way welcome to the world of Dungeons and Dragons.**

 ***PC backstory chapters are not nearly as long as normal chapters***

 **Mature themes warning: Blood/Gore and Foul Language**

 _Italics are character thoughts_

The Mountain Druid

The mountains of Zahn have sat peacefully as a natural barrier for the city of Reinsguard for countless years. The peaks reach into the clouds as a symbol of safety to the towns people below. In these mountains resides a family line of druids. Their family seal protects these mounds from anyone who would seek to bring harm to the elderly lands. The seal draws from the bloodline and uses their very life force to maintain the bond. In return all who have the blood of the mountain guardians can tap into an ancient power that allows them to take the shape of animals that would call the mountains their home, along with various other animals. The power of the mountains also allows the user to tap into natures powers and harness them into powerful spells or simply make life easier. The current seal holder is a tiefling man in his early twenties. He bears long black hair parted only by his ram like horns that curl back. Solid silver eyes compliment his light purple skin. A five foot long tail pokes out from a slit in his light green robes. This man is Mordai,he has resided in these mountains since he was a child. In secret, he has formed his own family with another tiefling, Akta, she adorns long black hair and golden eyes. Together they had a son named Art. A spitting image of his father. This secret son will be the next to inherit the powers of the mountain once he comes of age. All was peaceful for Mordai, until an unlikely string of events sent his life spiraling in a direction he never could have seen coming.

Near the base of mount Zahn, tucked away in a small out cove lies a hand built cabin. The smell of pork and fresh cooked eggs wave through the small lodge as a small family of three gather around a table eager to get their first meal of the day in.

"Now you calm down and eat your food child." A mother says as she places down two plates on the table and takes a seat. "You're as energetic as your father."

The child lets out a small giggle and starts to dig into his food as his father comes by ruffling his hair and taking a seat across from his wife with his own plate of food. "Art does take a lot after me, looks and personality."

Rolling her eyes she sips from her cup and chuckles, "The two of you will be the death of me I'm telling you."

Small talk about the day ahead and laughter follows as the family eats their meal. Rising from his seat the father makes his way to the door taking his staff into his hand and turns to his wife. "I'll be back later, I'm heading up into the mountain, I'm gonna check up on the surroundings." With a wave he turns for the door and heads outside into the forest. The crisp autumn air blows through the woods bringing the scent of mother nature. As he walks his staff taps the earth in front of him causing whatever tracks he may have left behind to be covered with nearby leaves and brush, making his tracks impossible to be found or followed back to his home. After his lengthy walk through the woodlands he approaches the brush along the side of a commonly used trade path. With a small incantation and a wave of the staff, the brush parts as he passes through and closes behind him as he steps out onto the dirt path. The path to his family entirely hidden from the eye. Heading west from this entrance he heads up into the mountain. The trade trail cuts across the mountain connecting people and allowing a more open trade market in the nearby cities.

After a few hours of travel up into the steep mountain there is a feeling that goes through Mordai. An uneasy feeling as the sight of five men standing in the middle of the trade route huddled close looking over a parchment and talking among themselves. The men all seem to be of lower class, the vibe they give off hints that they wouldn't be too scared of breaking the law.

With little hesitation the druid steps forward holding his staff as a walking stick, "How goes friends, what exactly are you doing in the middle of the trail? Don't you know that caravans come through these parts. Wouldn't want a traffic jam in the mountains now would we."

With a nasty look, a man wearing a dirt leather overcoat turns to Mordai. His hair jet black and combed over to one side and a small mustache graces his top lip, He huffs as he scans over the tiefling in front of them. "Well...if it really concerns you, were here on guild orders to plan a new trade route through this mountain." He turns his head and hacks a glob of saliva onto the ground near him. "Problem with that is, we cant get through some seal that's on this mountain." As the man talks the other men around him pull out another paper and pass it around and nod to each other before one goon passes it to the man talking. Looking at the paper than to Mordai he chuckles, "It would seem that you're the cause of this."

With a defensive tone and his staff now held to his side the tiefling speaks out, "These lands are under my protection, they will not be mined or destroyed for your personal greed." His posture stands tall and proud of what he says he fights for.

The main man sighs a long and slow sigh as the sound of a scimitar being drawn from its sheath cuts through the air. "We've been ordered to take you alive, but...I'm guessing that by the way you're standing with that ol' stick of yours, that's not going to happen."

With a twirl of his quarterstaff the wood starts to glow with a magical energy, "You got that right." Scanning the men in front of him he notices only three of them have any weapons. Most are wearing leather while one has a small buckler. One goon wields a small cross bow while the other two including the head honcho have scimitars. Raising his staff towards them and letting his cloak slide off him and fall to the ground, a smirk crawls across his face as he speaks, "If you find yourselves brave enough come at me!'

"You heard him boys!' With that, two men rush forward with their swords drawn. With a diagonal slash the goon tries to strike out at the tielfing who easily steps back while swinging his enchanted staff, connecting with the mans head knocking him off balance and sending him tumbling face down into the dirt. Quickly pulling his staff back the incoming scimitar from the black haired man is stopped as it digs into the glowing wood leaving a small cut. With a sharp jab to the stomach with the end of his staff the man is pushed back in pain as he clenches his gut, shortly after he comes right back in slashing his blade wildly trying to spill the demons cursed blood. The sound of a bolt rips through the air as the two clash weapons. Upon hearing the bolt Mordai drops backwards into a roll dodging the arrow but getting cut by a lucky slash across the arm from the main goon. Recoiling from the damage the tiefling raises his hand and a puff of green gas condenses in front of the main assailant, with a single breath he drops to his knees coughing and spitting at the ground trying to get a clean breath as the poison seeps into his system. Taking this opportunity Mordai charges the one with the cross bow, arming his staff as the man panics trying to reload his only form of defence. Just as he gets the bolt loaded he looks up only to see a blue pole slam into his skull knocking him out cold. The first goon to be hit now has a trickle of blood running down the side of his face as his eyebrow has been split open. He drops his buckler in favor of a dagger Mordai was unable to see beforehand. The shorter man runs towards him tossing the dagger as he does. With a quick flick of his staff the dagger is sent spiraling into the dirt as the two meet slamming their weapons together. With a quick drop to the ground Mordai spins his legs kicking the man off his feet. As he hits the ground he feels a boot press his face into the cold earth. Standing on the goons head with one foot he turns to the others.

Using his demonic bloodline Mordai's voice booms through the mountains, "TAKE YOUR WOUNDED AND NEVER SET FOOT IN THESE LANDS AGAIN!' The two weaponless men tremble at the sound of his voice and quickly pick up their wounded men and retreat to their captain who holds his throat and coughs at the demon.

"T-this isn't the end demon! Your will p-pay with your blood!" After he finishes his sentence he quickly makes his exit with his men as the head through the mountains back to whatever guild they came from.

With a heavy sigh, Mordai returns to his cloak dusting it off before slinging it over his shoulder. A small line of blood runs down his arm soaking into his tunic. "I better get home now and get fixed up." The entire walk back all he could think of was what their leader had said.

 _Pay with my blood, do they plan to kill me?_

Just as the sun starts to creep behind the the mountains the tiefling calls home, he arrives back to his family. The bleeding in his arm has stopped but the stains still in his clothes. Opening the door he sets his staff against the frame and tosses his cloak over a rack with other cloaks already on it.

"Father you're...are you bleeding?" Art runs up to his father pulling at his sleeve.

His father pats his head and speaks gently, "I'm fine son, just got in a little disagreement with some friends."

Hearing this from the other room Akta comes running in with a roll of bandage and a clean shirt, "What happened to you? I thought you said you were going into the mountain?" She quickly starts removing the blood stained clothing from her husband as he chuckles softly.

"I was hun, but you know my duties to the mountain. I ran into some men trying to excavate it for their guilds own greed." There's a slight wince as his wound is gently cleaned and bandaged.

"And what they tried to murder you?" Her tone grows more worried as she speaks

With a saddened look he places his hand on his wives cheek, "In the morning I need to leave, I cant stay here and put you two in danger"

Akta nods slowly with a sigh, "You know I'm probably the only woman in these lands that could possibly put up with you always getting into trouble, but still that doesn't make it any easier to just let you walk out those doors with no guarantee that you're going to come back alive." The way she talks lets on that she knew this would happen one day.

There's a slight silence in the air before Mordai leans into his wife placing his head against hers, "I promise I'll come back, I just have to get this situation settled," he pauses slightly, "plus I wont be traveling alone" This bit of info calms her slightly while also causing more worry than its worth.

"Don't tell me you're going to be traveling with that drunk Hitori." Her brow narrows slightly

"He might be a drunk but hes the best shot with a bow n arrow I've ever seen!"

She sighs then looks back up with a soft smile, "Well...as long as someone is watching you're back that's better than no one I guess."

Shortly after this exchange the three all head to bed, none of them really getting an sleep that night as the entire family worries what the near future could bring. As dawn starts to approach and Mordai sets his sights on the open world ahead of him. "I'll be back as soon as I can, I'll make sure to tell you all about my adventure when I get home little one"

Art nods trying his best to hold back his tears, "S-Stay safe father, I'll protect mother while you're away."

Mordai smiles brightly at his child, "Thank you son, Make sure to paint me something nice for when I get back."

With that he steps out into the cold morning air, he turns to his family placing a kiss on each of their foreheads before setting off to the drunken archers house, Hitori Hanzo.

 **A/N: This is the first PC back story, there will be 2 more further in the story. If you liked the story feel free to support me with a like or a comment. If this gets any traction more parts will be released soon. Feel free to Pm me with questions or encouragement. Thanks for reading and see you in part 2!**


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